Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) director Anders Dorph has confirmed prediction markets are being used by citizens of Denmark but that the regulator is unable to block these peer-to-peer platforms as they are not targeting the Danish market.
Until prediction markets target players through either accepting Danish currency or with specific markets aimed at Danes, Dorph said the DGA does not have the power to issue cease-and-desist letters.
Earlier this week, Polymarket was issued a cease-and-desist letter from the Netherlands Gambling Authority after an investigation found the event contracts platform was offering political markets to Dutch players.
“Prediction markets are already here, we see [customers using] Polymarket and Kalshi,” he said.
“We don’t have figures on how many people are using those sites but we will definitely block them if they target the Danish market, and use DNS blocking on their websites if we see any signs.
“As it is right now, they are not meeting the criteria, which is they have to target the Danish market. There are different ways of showing that.
“For example, if you can use Danish currency, Danish payment methods or if there is an option to put money on a Danish lower football league match, which is not well-known around the world, that would be targeting the market.
“If they are doing that, we would definitely try to block them and make it harder for them to engage with the Danish customers.”
Elsewhere, France, Portugal and Belgium have ordered the blockchain-powered platform to exit their markets, while New Zealand has declared prediction markets to be “unauthorised operators” breaching national gambling laws.
Earlier this month, the Gambling Commission penned a post on its website explaining how prediction markets would need to secure a licence covering betting exchanges to be allowed to operate legally in the UK.
New York-based Kalshi, which is licensed by the federal derivatives regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced in October it was to expand to more than 140 countries with a shared global liquidity pool.
A notice on Kalshi currently informs users that the product is not available in more than 50 countries, including the UK, France, Belgium, New Zealand. However, Denmark isn’t on the list.
Prediction markets are also facing a raft of legal challenges from US regulators, with Tennessee issuing cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com last month. Other states, such as Massachusetts and Nevada, are going after prediction markets.
However, the CFTC has come out fighting the corner of these platforms. Writing in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week, CFTC chair Michael Selig said the agency will “no longer sit Idly by” when it comes to prediction markets legal challenges.
Have Your Say
Take our short customer survey on EGR’s content and data offering for the chance to win a £100 Amazon voucher. It will take less than three minutes, with the findings used to inform our plans to improve the platform.
The post DGA director says regulator is powerless to stop prediction markets first appeared on EGR Intel.
Anders Dorph tells EGR Danish players are using Kalshi and Polymarket but until the pair specifically target Danes, they cannot be blocked
The post DGA director says regulator is powerless to stop prediction markets first appeared on EGR Intel.